D.O.T. - DIE OFFENE TÜR (tHE OPEN DOOR)
STRENGTHENING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN YOUNG PEOPLE
Play Video
D.O.T. (Die Offene Tür – ‘The Open Door’) is an international research group focused on social wellbeing in children and adolescents. Our innovative programme of work spans psychological research, classroom activities, smartphone games and peer-to-peer support.
Our main focus is early adolescents – young people aged 10 to 12, making the difficult leap from primary to secondary school. We’re interested in how supportive relationships between peers help children stay mentally and physically healthy – reducing stress, raising self-esteem, and building resilience to the challenges of growing up. And we’re especially interested in harnessing technology as a force for good, by creating games and experiences which help young people navigate their increasingly complex social worlds.
We operate as a non-profit academic research group, comprised of international collaborators from a wide range of disciplines – from child psychologists in Vienna to computer scientists in Lisbon. You can read more about our unique, interdisciplinary team here. We’re funded by the Ludwig Boltzmann Society in Vienna, and hosted at the Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Krems-an-der-Donau, Austria. We share our work through academic papers, conference presentations and media coverage. Read more about the full D.O.T. programme here.